Eros (film)
|preceded = |followed = |website = |imdb_id = |tv_com_id = |country = Hong Kong United States Italy }}Eros is a 2004 anthology film consisting of three short segments: The Hand directed by Wong Kar-wai in Mandarin, Equilibrium by Steven Soderbergh in English, and The Dangerous Thread of Things by Michelangelo Antonioni in Italian. Each of the three segments addresses the themes of love and sex. Plot The Hand Miss Hua, a 1960s high-end call girl is visited by a shy dressmaker's assistant Zhang, to take her measure. He hears the sounds of sex, as he waits in her living room. He is drawn towards her but there is no meeting ground between the two individuals from completely different classes. She summons him when her client leaves. She tells him, she will supply him with an aid to his memory. He will think about her while designing her clothes, she says. Equilibrium Nick Penrose is an advertising executive under enormous pressure at work. He tells his psychiatrist Dr. Pearl about a recurring dream of a beautiful naked woman in his apartment, as they discuss the possible reasons why his stress seems to manifest itself in the erotic dream. The Dangerous Thread of Things A bored couple, Christopher and Cloe, take a stroll near a resort on a lake on the coast of Tuscany. Visiting a restaurant on the beach, they see a sexy young woman, Linda. Cloe tells him where she lives, inside a crumbling medieval tower. He goes to visit her and they have sex. As Christopher leaves the place, the two women later encounter each other on the beach, both naked. Cast The Hand * Gong Li as Miss Hua * Chang Chen as Xiao Zhang, Jin's apprentice * Feng Tien as Master Jin * Luk Auntie as Hua's Servant, Ying * Jianjun Zhou as Hua's Lover, Zhao * Wing Tong Sheung as Tailor * Kim Tak Wong as Tailor * Siu Man Ting as Tailor * Lai Fu Yim as Tailor * Cheng You Shin as Tailor * Wing Kong Siu as Tailor * Kar Fai Lee as Tailor * Chi Keong Un as Hotel Concierge Equilibrium * Robert Downey, Jr. as Nick Penrose * Alan Arkin as Dr. Pearl / Hal * Ele Keats as The Woman / Cecelia The Dangerous Thread of Things * Christopher Buchholz as Christopher * Regina Nemni as Cloe * Luisa Ranieri as The Girl / Linda * Cecilia Luci as Girl by the Cascade * Karima Machehour as Girl by the Cascade * Riccardo Manfredi as Barman * Valerio Burroni as Waiter * Pelino Tarantelli as Gardener * Maria Bosio as Guest at the Restaurant * Carla Milani as Guest at the Restaurant * Vinicio Milani as Guest at the Restaurant * Jason Cardone as Guest at the Restaurant * Carin Berger as Guest at the Restaurant * Enrica Antonioni as Guest at the Restaurant Production According to Wong Kar-wai, the original combination of directors was Antonioni, Pedro Almodóvar and him. But Almodóvar quit the project due to his tight schedule and he eventually used his story to make Bad Education. When released in Hong Kong and North America, Wong Kar-wai's The Hand was shown first. When shown elsewhere, Michelangelo Antonioni's The Dangerous Thread of Things was shown first. The film was censored for sexual content in the People's Republic of China. Reception Critical response In North America, critical response for Eros was very mixed.Eros obtained, for example, a 34% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes.http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eros/ American critics were almost unanimous in their praise of Wong Kar-wai's segment, and almost unanimous in their disapproval of the Michelangelo Antonioni piece. Steven Soderbergh's contribution drew mixed notices. Roger Ebert gave Wong's segment four out of four stars, Soderbergh's three stars, and Antonioni's a mere one star.http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050407/REVIEWS/50323002/1001 On the syndicated television show Ebert & Roeper, he gave the film a "thumbs up" rating. In his Chicago Sun-Times review, he wrote: }} Box office Eros was distributed for theatrical release in North America by Warner Independent on April 8, 2005. Promotion was poor; for example, on Ebert & Roeper, critic Richard Roeper remarked that he was surprised that Warner Independent did not send any clips to be broadcast on the show and that this was the only movie reviewed on the show he remembered for which the studio had taken such a step (incidentally, the critics gave the film a "Two Thumbs Up" rating). Opening on twelve screens, box office was weak, earning just US $53,666 ($4,472 per screen) in its opening weekend on its way to a low US $188,392 final gross. Boxofficemojo.com reports that the total worldwide gross for Eros is $1,535,829. References External links * Category:Live-action films Category:Films Category:Warner Independent Pictures films Category:2004 films Category:American films Category:Italian films Category:Hong Kong films Category:Anthology films Category:Independent films Category:Drama films Category:R-rated films Category:Industrial Light & Magic